What are Scams?
Have you ever been scammed? Do you know someone who had been scammed? Beware of scams. Protect yourself and don’t fall into the trap. A scam is a fraud scheme to make money out of non-suspecting victims. How can we avoid being scammed? Once the person starts to ask for money, credit card details, or bank access details, THINK before you click send!
There is nothing wrong with starting the small talk with strangers whether face-to-face, online or SMS. If you have been scammed first thing you do is report the incident to the police and to the bank. Second, don’t dwell on self-pity. You are a good person. They are the evil ones. So move on and learn from your mistake. These are the types of scams that you should be aware of:
- Loan Scam
- Love Scam
- Investment Scam
- Phishing
- Other Online Scam
Loan Scam
Not all scams will ask for money from you. Sometimes, they will give money to you. Remember, these lenders are not registered to government central banks. They may also offer loans on social media, spam email, spam texts, or even face-to-face.
Scam Modus 1
Fast approval, fewer requirements, high-interest rate. They will ask for your social media accounts, WhatsApp, Viber, and other online messaging apps. Once you are not able to pay, they will extort you by sending death threats and harassing all the people on your social media. You will end up scared to death and humiliated to all the people on your social media.
Modus 2
It’s the same as mentioned above except this time, they will keep asking for payment even if you already paid. If you don’t, you will suffer the same fate of humiliation and extortion.
Modus 3
This one is the same except that once you fail to pay, they will suddenly get anything or anyone from you as a form of collateral that you didn’t sign up for in the first place. They could take your car or kidnap anyone in your family.
Modus 4
This is the common one loan scam which is short for a loan shark. The lender will give you an amortization schedule but you didn’t know that you are just paying interest. In the end, they will get the collateral or you will be paying for the rest of your life.
Modus 5
Instant loan. You suddenly saw an anonymous deposit to your account. You were too happy so you spent it right away. Suddenly you will receive a message or call asking you to return the money with interest or else, they will report you that you scammed them into making a deposit to your account. If you don’t pay them back with interest, they will torture your social life and even threaten you and your family.
Love Scam
Most victims are single and most are female. Warning – these scammers are professional lovers. They will have an amazing profile online – rich, smart, good looking, very sweet and so in love with you. If it’s too good to be true, its probably is.
Modus 1
A stranger on social media or messaging apps will send you a message, a friend request, or anyway just to get your attention. Once they gain your trust, they will ask for marriage at a very short period of knowing each other. Soon, they will start asking for your credit card details, account details, personal details, and personal documents for your marriage requirements. One you give it, they will use it and disappear.
Modus 2
After asking your hands in marriage, the scammer will inform you that he or she will send you gold, diamonds, or anything with very high value. The scammers will tell the victim that the item was held by the customs and you need to pay a certain amount of money for clearance and tax.
Modus 3
During the entirety of your “Online Romance“, he will be asking for online sex, nude pictures, and nude videos. He will then threaten you that he will expose these photos and videos if you don’t give him the money.
Modus 4
These scammers will make the victim fall in love and directly ask for money because of some unfortunate situations in his or her life. Scammers will pretend they got scammed and lost all their money or lost his/her job or got hospitalized.
Modus 5
The scammer will lure the victim to fly to his or her country then rob and/or extort the victim. What’s worse is that this criminal may even ask ransom from the family.
Investment Scam
People get betrayed by their greed or sometimes it’s just the desperate need to have a good life. There is no easy money. This scam promises a high income and fast return-on-investment (ROI)
Modus 1
Bitcoin investment scams. If you don’t have technical knowledge of bitcoin, how are you going to check the validity of your investment? Even if it’s not a scam, don’t go for investment where you don’t personally know a way to verify the authenticity of your ownership. There is also no legal monetary authority governing this type of currency yet.
Modus 2
Social Media Ads Investment scams. Ads popping up on your screens promoting business opportunities or investment opportunities. Once you click the ads, it will redirect you to a website where you need to register and eventually instruct you to fund your investment via fund transfer, credit card, or other modes of payments. If you don’t know how or where to verify the authenticity of your investment ownership, DON’T invest in it.
Modus 3
Pyramid Scams. If the investment scheme or business scheme requires you to recruit another person, it’s pyramiding. The investment will grow from dividends and market valuation and NOT from recruiting others.
Modus 4
Sales trap. The seller of the investment will make you sign documents and explains that those are for registration purposes only but in reality, those are actual investment documents authorizing a fund transfer.
Modus 5
Deposit scam. After giving the investment funds to the scammer, the victim will be instructed to open an account so that the criminal can send the “profit or dividend” to that account. A sum of money will then be deposited into that account. When hackers and scammers become successful in siphoning funds from their victims, they need to withdraw it from a remittance company or bank account. However, scammers can’t use their own names for these transactions because they will get caught so they use other people’s names and accounts as a gateway to withdraw.
Phishing
If they can’t hack you, they will phish your personal information to get access to your credit cards and bank accounts. They send these phishing messages thru email, text, or chat on social media. Recently, scammers even call to get your details.
Modus 1
They will send emails, text, or even call you alarming you about some problem with your bank account or online banking. They will instruct you to click a link update or confirm your personal information or ask you to change your password. The link will lead you to a fake website that looks exactly like the real website. To protect yourself, always call your bank first to confirm those emails, texts, and calls you received regarding your bank account or credit card.
Modus 2
Registration scam. You will receive an email, call, or text that you have won a raffle or you have been given free membership for a limited time. All you have to do to claim it is to register to the link they will give you without realizing that you are already giving away your personal details, bank details, user IDs, and Passwords.
Modus 3
Business partnership scam. The victim will receive a message on your social media account telling you that they are interested in your product or they like your social media and they want to partner with you. They will then ask you personal information or instruct you to submit some documents then use this information to gain access to your account. They can even pretend to be you, use your ID, and copy your signature to withdraw or request a checkbook. Once they have the checkbook, they will issue a check with your forged signature pay to cash.
Modus 4
If they were not able to access your online account or you don’t have an online account, gaining access to your email can be enough. They will search your email for bank-related emails then they will know which bank you were banking at and what transactions you do. They may try to send instructions to your bank using your email or try to pretend to be you and call the bank to change an email or mobile number so that they can supply their own email and mobile number on your online account.
Other Online Scams
Because almost everyone is online, social media and email has become the best scam hub for criminals.
- Online Master’s Degree scam
- Travels and Tour scam
- Online product seller / buyer scam
- Winner Scam
- Raffle Scam
These illegal money-making activities become more sophisticated and innovative just like all the other financial institutions. They will always find new ways so you better be cautious especially on social media. So, protect yourself by learning how to spot a fraud.
If you have other scam experiences, Please share it with us on the comments below.
